The Dog Walker
by Aksannyi
Summary: Ziva comes home from work one day to find that someone is stealing her neighbors' dogs! Not on her watch. AU Tiva meet-cute.


**So this is a meet-cute based on this tumblr prompt: "HEY STOP! YOU'RE STEALING MY NEIGHBOR'S DOG! WHAT THE FU – oh, they hired a dog walker? hahaha haha.. ha… carry on"**

 **Obviously, this is AU, so no spoilers to be had my friends.**

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Ziva sighed with relief as she shut her car door behind her, pulling the handle behind her to ensure that it was locked. She walked to the door of her apartment building, taking the front steps and opening the door to the vestibule. Absentmindedly, Ziva reached into her mailbox and sifted through the excess of paper mail left behind by her mail carrier, hoping for something more enticing than a credit card offer, insurance solicitation, or pizza delivery circular, but nothing was forthcoming.

From behind her was the sudden and swift whoosh of wind as two huge dogs brushed past her, their walker struggling to keep up with their excitement as they rushed out the door. She was used to the dogs' excitement, as they always seemed in a rush to get out of the building and into the world. She'd often wondered why the Brooks family had such large dogs in such a small apartment building, but at least there was a park nearby for the dogs to run around and play.

Shoving the junk mail into the nearby trash bin, Ziva took first one step and then another up toward her apartment before stopping short.

The dogs. _The Brookses were on vacation._ Who the hell was this guy then? Was he stealing their dogs?

Shoving her keys into her pocket, she stepped rapidly out the front door and ran down the stairs, sprinting in the direction of the park to where she saw the man walking casually with the dogs as though he hadn't just run off with four-year-old Vera Brooks' two best friends right under their watchful neighbor's very nose.

"Stop!" she hollered, running toward the man and tackling him down to the ground, causing him to lose his grip on the leashes of the two dogs, who bounded away in their confusion. Normally, the dogs would have been delighted to see Ziva, but this time they were startled by her and took off in the opposite direction instead of greeting her with kisses and wagging tails.

For good reason, she supposed. The man grunted as they landed hard, her legs astride him as she attempted to pin him down. "What the hell?" he asked, thoroughly confused by the woman who had seen fit to tackle him in the middle of a public dog park.

"How dare you! The Brookses have barely been out of town for twelve hours and you're already stealing their pets? What were you going to do with them, hmm? Did you know how much Vera loves those big fur monsters?"

"I-"

"Save it! You should be ashamed of yourself and get a real job, instead of waiting for innocent families to take a trip so you can make a quick buck off a little girl's misery," she ranted, holding him down by the shoulders, trying to keep the upper hand against the man, who had begun to struggle beneath her weight.

"Miss…" he began, but he was interrupted again.

"Do not 'miss' me! Have you got an explanation for yourself, now that you're caught? Why would you do such a thing!?" She pushed his shoulder roughly into the dirt, causing him to wince in pain. Ziva tried not to let her triumph show, though she felt that a person who would steal a family's beloved dogs should get a lot worse.

The man heaved an exasperated sigh, followed by a hearty chuckle. "I'm a dog sitter, ma'am," he said, ignoring the way her eyes narrowed at the use of the polite honorific.

"A dog sitter?"

He grinned, and Ziva couldn't help but feel her stomach drop at the sight. The man really had a hell of a smile. "Yeah, you know, hired to take care of a family's animals while they go out of town? Trusted to make sure the dogs have food, water, and walks?"

Ziva was beginning to feel flustered. How had she not considered that the Brookses would hire a dog sitter, since they couldn't exactly bring the dogs with them on their trip? "Okay yeah," she started, smiling sheepishly. "I knew they were going out of town, but I had just assumed they were going to board the dogs. Karla didn't mention anything about a dog sitter."

"Would have saved me some trouble if she had. But they did hire me." He shifted, grimacing at the way something was digging into his lower back. The grass appeared a lot softer than it actually was, now that he was lying down in it. "So can you like, get off me now?" he added, almost as an afterthought.

She scrambled to her feet hastily, reaching down to help him up. "Oh, yes. Of course." She swallowed, pulling her hand away as soon as she was able and brushing her hair behind her ear. "And… I am sorry for overreacting."

"Well you're pretty good at tackling. Ever consider playing for the Ravens?"

She laughed, surprised by the way in which he had completely diffused the situation and put her at ease. Perhaps he was just one of those people who was easy to talk to, which would explain why Karla and Emma Brooks would trust him with the family dogs.

"And would you mind helping me get the dogs since your brilliant tackling job resulted in me letting go of their leashes?"

 _Fuck._ Ziva grimaced, feeling another wave of embarrassment at her mistake wash over her. Had the whole neighborhood seen her tackle a random stranger in the middle of the park? "I suppose it is the least I could do, given the _forceful_ way in which I took you to the ground."

"Yeah… about that…" he said, rubbing his neck with a smirk. "You really knocked the wind out of me." They were walking quickly in the direction of the dogs, who were thankfully much more engaged in playing with each other – and a pinecone – than running away and trying to escape the neighborhood. Ziva was suddenly grateful that these dogs were not the type to run wildly over to the opposite side of town. _Or traffic,_ she thought with a shudder.

"You're not hurt?" she asked, feeling guilty about the way she'd really pummeled the man. Sure, it was part of her job sometimes, but this man wasn't actually guilty, and it was an unfortunate error in judgment that could have led to a serious injury.

"No… well, my pride is hurt a little, given that you're a-"

"Do not say _woman,"_ she seethed, interrupting him.

"I was going to say 'a lot smaller than me,' but you knocked me down easily," he said, noting the way she seemed to stiffen at the implication that she could be weak in any way because of her gender. He was intrigued by her.

"I suppose looks can be deceiving then," she said simply, shrugging slightly as they came within reach of Shadow's lead, and the man reached down and picked it up quickly, securing her back into his custody. Ziva distracted the other dog – Ninja – long enough for the man to sneak up on him and gather his lead as well, heaving a sigh that both of his charges were back under his control.

"Funny you should say that, seeing as I apparently _looked_ like a dog thief and not a dog-sitter," he teased, delighting in the way in which she stood up quickly, indignantly, as if she was about to protest when she caught the teasing glint in his eye.

"I suppose I deserve that," was her only reply, and the man nodded his agreement.

"I'm Anthony DiNozzo, by the way," he said, switching the leads to his left hand and extending his right to shake. "Most people call me Tony."

She took his hand, shaking it confidently. "Ziva David."

"So then, Ziva, would you care to walk these fine dogs with me today? Perhaps you can tell me what it is about you that makes you give chase after random suspected thieves, tackling them to the ground without hesitation."

He was teasing her again, but she couldn't seem to find a single part of her that cared. "I'd love to," she said with a soft smile, and he handed Ninja's leash over to her, letting her guide him through the park and around the neighborhood.

The next day, Tony was there at the entrance to her building when she arrived home, and he waved, handing her Ninja's leash again in another silent invitation to walk the dogs with him, clearly interested in continuing the friendship they'd started the previous day. She told him about her work on the police force, listening with interest as she talked about the way in which she'd had to fight twice as hard to be taken seriously by the men in her department, and he joked with her about her tackling ability again before asking if she had been planning on handcuffing him the previous day.

She'd elbowed him roughly, and he'd laughed.

They continued that way for the rest of the week, laughing and talking easily as they walked the dogs together, forming a fast friendship that Ziva was reluctant to let go of when the Brooks family's vacation inevitably came to an end.

"They're coming back tonight, you know," Tony said that same evening, clearly thinking similarly. How had it been only a week since they'd met? It felt as though they had been friends forever. He had never clicked with anyone like this before.

"So you don't get to steal their dogs anymore?"

"I think I'd rather steal their neighbor," he said, suddenly serious as he turned to face her, reaching for the leash that Ziva had been holding and taking it from her, his gaze lingering on hers a little longer, his fingers grazing hers slightly. She appeared transfixed, unable to move, other than to gasp in a small breath, her skin tingling at the contact between them.

"Their neighbor has a better security system," she replied, smiling softly and raising her eyebrows, challenging him. _Try to bypass the locks I have on my heart,_ she mentally goaded him, suddenly yearning for it, wanting so badly to have someone finally toss all of her defenses aside and sweep her off her feet and into something lasting and spectacular.

"I think I can crack it," he said, leaning forward, tension growing and swaddling them in the warm summer air. Ziva was certain that he was going to kiss her, a thrill of heat coursing through her at the thought, and she closed her eyes in anticipation, waiting for the inevitable.

"Ninja!" A small voice called from below her, adding, "Shadow!" It was Vera Brooks, Karla and Emma's daughter, who was delighted to see her dogs waiting outside for her as she arrived home. No one seemed to sense that they had interrupted anything, and Ziva welcomed the family home before excusing herself quickly, saying that she had wanted to say hello to the dogs before heading into her own apartment.

She tried not to let the disappointment at what could have been settle in, but it was hard not to. She had been so sure that Tony was going to kiss her, and more than that, she had wanted him to. Ziva sighed, stepping away from the door and setting her keys on the counter before heading to the fridge in search of something to drink.

A knock at the door delayed that plan, however, and she stepped back to the door to open it, finding that Tony standing casually outside her door with his hands in his pockets, his usually cocky grin somewhat tentative.

"So I was thinking," he said giving a slight shrug of his shoulders, trying to appear as though his heart wasn't about to jump completely out of his chest, "that maybe we could go for a walk tomorrow. Maybe to that new restaurant around the corner."

"You know where to find me," she replied, smiling at the simple way he cocked his head at her response.

"So is that a yes, you'll go out with me?"

"Oh, I am going out with you now? I thought this was just a walk," she teased, shifting her weight and raising her eyebrows at him mockingly.

"Yes, it's a date," he said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes slightly. "Or if you don't want to-"

"I'd love to," she interrupted, delighting in the way his face lit up, his smile spreading across his face at her answer.

"Then I will see you tomorrow," he said, unable to keep the goofy grin off his face. Ziva smiled back, her pleasure at the prospect of seeing him again evident in the way her eyes seemed to sparkle in response.

"And I will be right here."

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 **Listen, I don't know how this happened. I try to be actively writing and then months go by and I've gotten nothing, then I travel to visit family and I write this whole thing on literally three hours of sleep. How? Why? I don't know. I want to say that I'm back to writing more often and I hope I can be! But I'm promising nothing. I just hope you'll be with me when it happens.**

 **Please let me know what you think of this silly little AU oneshot.**


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